Human Do, Monkey Do
by whitefairy
Summary: Yay! My second fic! And this time Ichigo's back and she's feeling homesick for her old life, so the monkeys decide to learn some of the greater human things in life!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Second fic! Woo hoo!

A/N: This is just something that I thought at ice- skating. Ichigo feels sad about not being able to go out and have fun like she used to, so the monkeys ask her to teach them a few of her favourites.

P.S: Big thanks cuddles to Guy Who Reads Too Much Fantasy for the whole 'Antauri Protecting Ichigo' idea!

**A Promise Made**

Ichigo watched as the Monkey Team dodged swirling saws and lasers in the training room. She gazed wide- eyed at the weapons. The rather _large _weapons. The rather _large _and_ vicious- looking_ weapons. The training stopped and Chiro came over, sweating and wiping his face with a towel, he looked at her and smiled,

"OK, Ichigo, your turn" he said, walking over to the controls and sitting down. Ichigo looked back at where all the weapons poised ready for battle, and sweat dropped.

"Uhhhh... That's OK, Chiro! I think I'll just watch some more!" she stammered quickly, feeling the sweat run down her neck and a knot of unease appear in her stomach.

"C'mon, Ichigo! You've been sitting on the sidelines the whole time! Time to shake that tail and beat the crud outta some training modules!" called Sprx, pumping his fist in the air. Ichigo gulped again and felt a shiver run down her back,

"N-no! That's OK, seriously! I'm happy here, just watching!" she shook slightly at the thought of facing those things full- on.

"Very well" said Antauri, nodding at Chiro to start the module, Chiro smiled and complied.

Soon; they were jumping around, avoiding saws and laser beams again. Ichigo sighed quietly,

'This is crazy! I can't do that! I mean, heck I'm just a 16 year old girl! True, I'm stuck in a robot monkey's body, but I just can't go out and face things like _those_" she thought as she watched Gibson manage to duck under a saw. She turned slightly and saw Otto battling a few lasers, deflecting their beams with his saws, she noticed that Sprx seemed to nod and he nodded back and deflected a laser beam her way. She jumped to one side of it and sighed in relief, then got hit in the back as it deflected off a wall behind her. The force sent her flying into the fray and she worked her wings backwards to stop herself flying further. She righted herself and hovered slightly as she got her bearings, then she whizzed backwards, quickly dodging a beam and a saw. Then it hit her and she felt numb, she'd fallen into the training space and now _she _was being attacked too! She dodged, ungracefully, squeaking slightly when a saw swung a little _too _close.

Antauri leapt onto the podium in the middle of the training room and did a double take when he saw Ichigo there, desperately trying to dodge attacks, and anyone could see that she wasn't enjoying it one bit. He avoided a couple of saws coming at him and ran to where Ichigo was.

"Ichigo!" he called, running up to her side. Ichigo turned to him and he could see she near tears with fright. She flew over to him and hugged him,

"Antauri" she said, relieved that someone was helping her, "I didn't mean to fall in, honest!" He patted her back and coaxed her behind him as he deflected anything that came their way. Ichigo floated behind him, looking over his shoulder at all the weapons being fired at them. Then, one managed to slip through and Antauri was knocked sideways a bit, leaving Ichigo out in the open. She gasped and flew over to him, checking to see he was alright,

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking over him for any injuries, unaware of the laser targeting her behind her,

"Yeah" he panted, hands on his knees as he recovered from the shock. He looked up just too late to see the laser fire at Ichigo's back, or more specifically, her power cell. He gasped and froze slightly as Ichigo was shot and flew across the room, landing in a heap on the floor. Antauri gaped in horror at the sparking wires sticking out of the large hole in her back, and then his brain seemed to start working again,

"Stop the training! Ichigo's been hurt!" he shouted at Chiro, who jumped up and quickly powered down everything. Everyone stopped and ran over to where Antauri kneeled next to Ichigo's motionless form.

"Is...Is she?" asked Chiro shakily as Gibson checked her over, he stood back again,

"No" he said finally, picking her up and carrying her into the medical ward, "But we'll need to act quickly" Otto followed close behind with his tools.

And, as the door to the medical ward closed on them, the others began to think about what just happened,

"Why was she out there, anyway? I mean, she _said _that she didn't want to join in!" asked Nova, looking around as she spoke.

"I believe she was involved, involuntarily" said Antauri who remembered what Ichigo said earlier about not meaning to fall in.

"But, how would she fall in? I mean, it would take someone pushing her or something..." Chiro broke off as he noticed Sprx trying to sneak away. Sprx felt someone watching him and turned to around to see the others glaring at him, especially Antauri. He turned to face them and put a hand behind his head as he sweated slightly,

"How 'bout that, then. Uh... well maybe we should see how Gibson and Otto are doing with Ichigo?" he suggested, backing away as Antauri slowly stalked up to him. He heard Antauri growl quietly and tried to think of some way out,

"I... I think they just called out something! Maybe... maybe we should go see what they want?" he said, and was about to run like the wind when Antauri grabbed hold of his neck. Sprx felt doom looming over him and turned to face a murderous- looking Antauri,

"Why. Did. You. Knock. Ichigo. In?" he said slowly, menace and pain for the red monkey in his words, Sprx laughed nervously,

"Me? You think it was me!" he said in mock hurt, "why Antauri! How could you think such an awful, terrible..." Antauri bared his teeth and tightened his grip; behind him, Nova cracked her knuckles and glared. Then, Otto came back in, wiping his hands and Sprx saw his way out,

"Otto did it!" he cried, pointing over to the green monkey, who looked up in shock at suddenly being accused of something,

"Huh?" he said, looking at each member in confusion, "What did I do?"

Antauri threw Sprx down and walked up to him,

"Apparently, you knocked Ichigo into the training area" Antauri said calmly, gazing at Sprx sceptically, Otto fidgeted with the towel a little,

"Well, yeah. Sprx said that Ichigo needed to get out and find out what it's like to be in a fight! So I... deflected a beam so it knocked her in..." he admitted, shamefully, as he realised his folly, "I'm sorry, Antauri! I didn't mean for Ichigo to get hurt!" he said hurriedly, feeling guilt crawl through his body. Antauri's eyes softened slightly when he realised Otto was being sincere,

"Alright, Otto, I forgive you. But, in the future, never listen to Sprx's suggestions!" he ordered, and turned around to face Sprx again,

"And now for you..." he growled low, razor claws out ready to shred Sprx to bits. Sprx squeaked and looked around to see the others readying themselves to beat the crud out of him.

"I...I..." he stared wide eyed and ran screaming as Antauri jumped at him and chased him all around the Super Robot.

"Up. Down. Sideways. Good, backwards? Excellent!" said Gibson happily, satisfied that Ichigo's wings were functioning again,

"May I go now?" asked Ichigo quietly as she hovered above him, Gibson smiled and nodded. Ichigo grinned in thanks and flew out of the medical ward in search of a certain black monkey. She paused when she heard her stomach rumble loudly,

'Hmm... Snack first' she decided, flying into the kitchen and rummaging through the fridge, she pulled out a carton of strawberries (BTW Ichigo in Japanese means strawberry!) And scooped out some ice- cream into a bowl and flew off again in search of her boyfriend. She noticed the door to her bedroom open and saw that Antauri was meditating on her bed. Ichigo flew in and saw that he was in such a deep trance that he didn't hear her enter. She waved a hand in front of his face to see if he would notice; satisfied that he was too preoccupied, she sat on the bed and ate a strawberry as she wondered what she could do to him. As she licked her lips she had an idea, and scooped out some ice- cream and shook it so it fell out and ran down Antauri's chest and stomach. He jumped at the sudden cold feeling and opened his eyes to see Ichigo licking the remaining ice- cream off the spoon; she looked up at him and smiled shyly. He looked down at the trail of ice- cream on his chest and grinned at her,

"Hungry?" he asked, pointing at the trail, she giggled slightly and nodded, his grin widened and he crawled over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and faced her so they were nose to nose, "want more?" he asked, she nodded again, rubbing his shoulders slightly. He leaned in so he was over her,

"Good" he murmured before kissing her deeply.

Ichigo rolled over as the bright sunlight hit her in the face,

"Uh..." she moaned, opening her eyes and looking at the lump beside her. She snuggled under the covers and cuddled up to Antauri, who awoke at the movement,

"Good morning" she whispered, kissing his nose playfully. Antauri yawned and blinked sleepily,

"Mornin'" he murmured, shuffling closer to her, she laid her head on his shoulder and scratched his back gently as she pondered various things, then she noticed the time and realised that if she was still human then she'd be getting ready for her lectures now, she felt a wave of sadness take over her and sighed,

"What's wrong?" asked a muffled voice near her ear, she lifted her head to see Antauri looking up at her, anxiously,

"Nothing" she said in a sad tone, "just...thinking about what I'd be doing if I were human" she answered honestly, she'd never been much good at hiding things or keeping things that bothered her to herself. Antauri sat up on his elbows and looked at her,

"You really miss being human, huh?" he asked, looking into her eyes to try and work out what she was thinking, she just shook her head and he noticed her expression was distant,

"No, just the things I used to like doing" she replied softly, "like going out to clubs and parties with friends or shopping or ice-skating... dancing and acting too. Or even just going to the regular hang- outs like the zoo or the pool" she listed them as she remembered them and he noticed a little spark of happiness return when she thought of them, then it went when she realised she couldn't do them anymore.

'Why not?" thought Antauri determinedly, 'if she wants to do them then I'm sure we can go out with her! After all" he looked over her at how she'd been changed and realised how much she'd had to change her life, plans and dreams to fit in with theirs' 'she's changed so much of her own life to suit us, we should do something in return!'

"Hey Ichigo?" he said, prepping himself to ask her, she turned and looked at him with a slightly nostalgic smile,

"Hmm?" she replied, he took a deep breath and jumped in,

"How about we do some of the things you enjoy? I mean, you've changed so much to suit us; it wouldn't be fair if we didn't change somewhat for you!" he said sincerely, rubbing her arm as he spoke. Her face suddenly brightened immediately,

"Really!" she squealed in amazement, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek, "Oh thank you, Antauri! You're the best boyfriend a girl could wish for! I love you so much!" she squealed, nuzzling him happily.

"Alright, alright! But how about we get some more sleep first?" he asked, stifling a yawn. Ichigo laid down and cuddled close to Antauri,

"OK" she said, stifling a yawn herself.

Pretty soon, Ichigo's breaths came out steady and slow as she slept on and Antauri suddenly realised something,

"How the heck am I going to get the others to agree!" he thought in despair.

Woooooo! New story! New plot! But, hopefully, equally good as the last! Review and tell me!


	2. Icy Blues

Disclaimer: I own Ichigo...and my cat...and some other stuff...that's it...but not the monkey team...yet.

Thanks to:

Twister91: Ta very much! (Ta means thank you if you weren't sure)

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Thanks! (Sorry, can't think of much to say)

Beastfire: Antauri: what's wrong with Ichigo's name? (Glares at Ivy)

Ichigo: Antauri, don't worry! It's OK...

WF: He he... Clingy!

4Everobotmonkeyfan: Ichigo: Someone loves our relationship! YAY!

WF: And we'll hold you to your word about the no swearing thing! Or else no cookie for you!

SparxGirl: Sprx: Why does everyone like Antauri! (In high squeaky voice) Oh Antauri's so sweet and kind! And blah blah blah! (Gets whacked by Nova)

WF: (to Nova) Thanks (smiles) I'm glad you like them!

**Icy Blues**

"WHAT!" yelled Gibson, when he heard Antauri's promise. He ran over, looking furious,

"Please tell me this is some sort of joke, Antauri! We don't have time for idle games!" he gestured at where he had been working on plans for a new weapon. Antauri crossed his arms and gestured at Chiro, Sprx and Nova, who were consumed in a video game, and then he looked back at Gibson and raised an eyebrow. Gibson spluttered slightly and hung his head for a moment, but lifted it again when he thought of a new argument,

"Anyway" he said, "none of us know how to ice skate! Or dance! Or any of that other stuff!" Antauri looked away from the blue monkey and noticed Ichigo's antennae droop sadly, now he felt determined to do this and get the others to as well.

"Then we will _learn_" he answered, turning back to Gibson. He nodded over towards Ichigo, who had turned away and was now sitting and watching the others play, Gibson noticed how sad she seemed and felt guilt creep through him like a virus. He sighed and admitted defeat,

"Oh, very well, Antauri!" he complied, going back to his workspace and clearing his things away. Antauri smiled and helped,

"My thanks, Gibson" he said gratefully, Gibson snorted slightly and replied,

"As long as it keeps Ichigo from looking like that then I'll do it, but _she _must join in training practice in return!" he looked at Antauri who looked slightly shocked before composing himself and nodding,

"Very well" he agreed, leaving Gibson and walking over to Ichigo. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to him,

"Gibson has agreed to join in on this" he said, Ichigo smiled but it was soon replaced with a frown,

"But I thought he didn't want to. He said that we didn't have time for things like that to me. You haven't forced him to, have you?" she asked, worried, "I don't want anyone joining in against their will" Antauri placed a finger to her lips and petted her cheek lovingly,

"He has agreed on the terms that you join in training practice" Antauri confessed, and regretted it when he saw the fear in her eyes. "Relax! Nothing bad will happen to you!" at this point, he lifted Ichigo into his arms and gazed into her eyes, "I would never let anything hurt you" he whispered. Ichigo's eyes went watery at his kind words and wrapped her arms around his neck, they drew close and their lips were about to touch,

"Lady Tomahawk!" yelled Nova, then there was a clang then screams as Sprx flew into Ichigo and they fell back in a dazed heap on the floor.

Antauri blinked and shook his head, realising that Ichigo wasn't in his arms anymore,

"Ichigo?" he said, noticing a white tail poking out from underneath Sprx's unconscious form, he ran over with Nova (it rhymes!) and they pulled Sprx off of the smaller monkey. Antauri pushed Sprx into Nova's arms and gently picked up Ichigo, who had little swirls in her eyes.

"Ichigo, my angel, are you alright?" he asked anxiously as she blinked and looked at him,

"Uh...fine, Antauri-koi." she held her head in pain, "owie. That _hurt_ though!" she complained. Antauri rubbed gently on a bump on the back of her head and kissed her forehead. Antauri was about to lean in when they heard muffled laughter; turning to the source, they realised it was Sprx and Nova. Unable to control it any longer they burst out laughing and fell on the floor,

"What is so amusing?" asked Antauri, glaring at them as he placed Ichigo on the ground. Ichigo stood next to him, silently watching the two with a perplexed look on her face. Instead of answering, Sprx took Nova's hand and, in an imitation of Antauri's voice, said,

"Are you alright, my angel?" soon everyone bar Ichigo and Antauri was laughing too. Nova caught on and leaned in,

"Oh, fine, my koi!" she replied in a high, soft voice like Ichigo's. Then they began to dramatically act out a hug and kiss,

"I'm so glad!" continued Sprx, before falling into a fit of laughter. Nova followed and eventually everyone except the blushing duo was holding their stomach and crying with laughter.

Ichigo's blush was more prominent and she hid her face in Antauri's chest. Antauri glared at Nova and Sprx and, psychically, lifted the two and smacked them off of the walls and floor. Everyone stopped laughing and watched, amazed, as the pair bounced off every available surface. Then, after a few minutes of this, Antauri dropped them down in front of him and walked past with Ichigo in tow,

"Just because we can admit our feelings for each other, isn't something to be laughed at" he said over his shoulder before walking out of the room. Ichigo looked over at the dented, bruised and battered pair and was about to help them when she paused. The gem on her forehead glowed and, when it stopped, she left quickly.

Gibson tutted quietly and walked over to the pair,

"Well, I hope you've learnt your lesson!" he said, leaning over them.

"Yeah" warbled Sprx, stars in his eyes, "don't go against Antauri." Gibson slapped his forehead and looked down at them again,

"No. Don't mock other people's relationships" he said exasperatedly, before dragging them out by their tails to the medical room.

Later, the monkey team was standing in front of the lake in Shugazoom Park, they all watched as Gibson used his ice beam to freeze over the lake, turning it into a giant ice- rink.

"Ladies first" he said, gesturing for Ichigo to go first. She smiled and skated out to the centre and back, she looked expectantly at the others, who looked at each other before hesitantly touching down on the ice. Otto fell over immediately, soon followed by Sprx who'd lost his balance laughing at Otto, Nova managed to stay up a little longer before she tripped over and fell down hard on the ice. Antauri stayed up, barely, and one could see the look of concentration on his face with his eyebrows knitted and his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth. Chiro skated too fast and managed to crash into the wall, where he clung on to for dear life, and finally, there was Gibson. Who wasn't moving at all. He worked the skates back and forth but he just didn't go anywhere. He growled as he wore out grooves into the ice,

"Maybe, you should stop that, Gibson, before you..." Ichigo began, worriedly looking at the ice under him, there was a cracking sound soon followed by a cry of alarm and a splash. Ichigo skated over to the hole where Gibson had been and sweat dropped when he reappeared frozen in a block of ice.

"Oh dear..." she said sadly, looking around at the others. Chiro had managed to skate over and fall into Otto, Sprx and Nova, so there was now a pile up. She looked around and found Antauri standing still, his legs wobbling slightly as he tried to brake himself slowly. He was doing alright until he slipped and fell face first into the ice. Ichigo sighed at them and pulled Gibson out of the icy water.

Sprx used his Magna Tingler Blast to thaw out Gibson and soon they were all sitting on the side.

Ichigo looked at them all, shivering with cold and covered with bruises, and felt her antennae droop sadly,

"This was a bad idea" she said quietly, looking down at the ground, "perhaps we should forget about this and go back to the Super Robot..."

"Heck no!" shouted Nova determinedly, "I'll be Skeleton King's girlfriend before I let something as pathetic as a lakeful of ice beat me!" She grabbed Ichigo's wrist and dragged her out onto the ice again. Nova slipped slightly and clung to Ichigo for support, when she was steady again she turned to Ichigo,

"Teach me how to do this!" she demanded, looking very stubborn. Ichigo looked shocked but managed to nod,

"Teach me too!" cried Otto, wobbling and slipping over to them,

"And me!" called Sprx, following behind. Chiro shrugged and gradually made his way over and Antauri smiled at Ichigo encouragingly,

"I think it will do us good to learn something new" he announced before sliding carefully towards them,

"I must admit: the transportation of oneself through the use of frozen water does intrigue me" admitted Gibson as he gingerly placed one skate in front the other and plodded over to them.

With all the team around her, watching her expectantly, Ichigo felt her cheeks heat up,

"Well, first: you have to skate on the edge of your skates like this" she moved her feet so they were in the proper position for skating and gestured at them, "you guys try" She watched as the team attempted this. Otto _still_ fell over as did Gibson; Ichigo felt the sweat drop on her head get bigger,

"This... will take some time" she concluded.

Soon, the Monkey Team had made progress and were slowly skating around the lake with ease. Antauri decided it would be easier if they were in pairs and so the Team paired off: Nova and Sprx, Otto and Chiro, Antauri and Gibson. Ichigo weaved among them, watching them to make sure they were alright and having a blast too.

"She's really good!" exclaimed Nova as she watched Ichigo skate along casually on one foot, Sprx huffed slightly,

"You think _that's _good? Watch me!" he skated off, gaining speed and passing Ichigo, the turbulence causing her to spin around. The team watched as Sprx managed to leap in the air and do a twist. The others clapped admiringly but soon stopped and watched in horror when Sprx landed in an uncomfortable way.

"Ooooooooooow!" he howled in pain as he landed doing an involuntary splits, the others winced in empathy then skated over to his aid.

As they quickly headed in, Otto and Gibson carrying a howling Sprx and the others not far behind, Ichigo noticed something,

"Y'know, at this rate, Sprx won't ever be able to have kids with stunts like these!" she remarked to no one in particular, Nova froze at her words before shaking her head and running after them a little faster. Ichigo raised an eyebrow curiously, but decided that she _didn't_ want to know.

Yahoo! Second chapter, done and dusted!

Sprx: (waddles in) Why me! Someday I _might _wanna _have_ kids, y'know!

WF: With whom?

Sprx: (blushes) No one.


	3. Fun At the Zoo!

Disclaimer: Bleh, (sticks out tongue) homework doesn't taste nice!

A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating sooner! (Cries) But the mean ol' homework monster loomed forth and grabbed me and wouldn't let me think of anything good!

Thanks to:

Twister91: Ichigo: (blinks and turns to Otto) if you knew how to skate then why did you fall over?

Otto: (puts a hand behind his head) Umm...I forgot? Heh heh... (Sweat drops)

Everyone else: (falls over)

SparxGirl: Sprx: (sitting on a big bag of ice) I would've made it! It's just... the sun was in my eyes! Yeah, otherwise I would've been all over that jump!

Ichigo: (blinks naively) but it was overcast, Sprx! How could- (is muffled by a hand)

Sprx: (muffling Ichigo and sweat drops) Heh such a kidder, ain't she?

Beastfire: Plushie! Plushie! BEASTBOY PLUSHIE! (Jumps on Ivy and plushies and glomps them to near death) yay!

Side note: I will _eventually _have that picture done! I promise, but it's really a sketch because I can't colour using art programmes. And, I'd love to see a pic of Ivy!

**Mahoosive ask for permission to Twister91 and Animefangirl11: **I've drawn out the couples on including JetxOtto and SenyaxGibson. I wanna know if it's ok for me to put them up on my site (when it's working)?

A Fan of Romance: Yay! Sweet and short, thanks!

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Sprx: (still on top of the bag of ice) got that right.

Nova: It'll teach you not to be such a show off!

Sprx: Show off! (Jumps off ice, winces and falls over) Ow... (Curls up and whimpers)

Nova: (grins and does peace sign) Works every time!

4Everobotmonkeyfan: Everyone: (watches Gibson's head swell cos someone agreed with him)

Nova: Oh stop! (Mutters) Bighead...

Ichigo: (sweat drops) seriously... (Points at Gibson's head which is too big to fit through the door)

Nova: (rolls around laughing)

**Fun at the Zoo**

"What's next?" asked Sprx as he walked up to Ichigo, still a little bowlegged and sore. Ichigo pondered his question,

"How about... the zoo?" she asked hesitantly, "Although you guys mightn't find it as fun, because they've got monkeys in cages and they recently got a new female who's a tad cranky apparently..."

"Female!" cried Sprx, who's pain seemed to mysteriously vanish at that, he grabbed Ichigo's hand and would've dragged her along had she not been hovering above the floor, "what're we waiting for? Let's go!" he cried, but suddenly froze and let go of Ichigo,

"Perhaps you should wait until everyone else is here?" Antauri suggested, walking over to drag a still frozen Sprx away from the exit tubes, "and don't drag Ichigo around!" he snapped as he led Sprx into the main room and let go of his telekinetic hold so Sprx, whose body was still in 'run' mode, ran into a wall.

Ichigo tutted slightly at it,

"Honestly, Antauri, sometimes I think you just _wait _for these chances!" she remarked crossly, Antauri came over and smiled innocently

"Well I never need to wait long. These incidents seem to happen quite frequently" he replied, giving Ichigo a peck on the cheek. She blushed and noticed Antauri's thoughts shift direction,

"Why the zoo?" asked Antauri, raising an eyebrow, Ichigo looked thoughtful again before answering,

"I want to see how it's changed in six years" she answered in a calm, matter of fact voice, Antauri raised an eyebrow and Ichigo's face broke out in a large grin "and I wanna see the baby animals!" she added with a slight squeal to her voice and she beamed at him. He remembered that look from when she first met them, back before Mandarin turned her into a monkey, how she'd squealed happily and run over and petted him. Well, she'd petted all of them, but she petted _him_ first. It was something of a source of pride to Antauri, although he'd never say that out loud. He could still feel her hand covering his cheek and soothingly stroking it, he purred out loud and Ichigo giggled slightly,

"What are you thinking about?" she asked curiously, nearing him and seeing a distant look in his eyes. Antauri shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled in a lovesick way at Ichigo; before she could ask, Antauri came up to her and hugged her, nuzzling his cheek against hers happily. Ichigo giggled at the feeling and rubbed her nose against his,

"What's all this in aid of?" she asked, Antauri shrugged, with a lovesick look still on his face,

"Just remembering when you petted me for the first time" he answered, Ichigo laughed out loud as she remembered,

"Oh yes! And after that, you kept coming up to my room with various excuses" she said, Antauri blushed and pouted at her,

"They weren't excuses! They were...they were..."

"Excuses" finished Sprx, who'd awoken and seemed to be fine and enjoying this way to torment Antauri. Antauri huffed and countered,

"And _you_ started kissing Nova!" he said defensively, Sprx spluttered and blushed.

"I...I did not!" he stammered, turning away, "you were just... imagining it! Yeah, you're getting old and imagining things!" Antauri looked at him flatly,

"I'm just as old as you" he pointed out, Sprx sweated slightly as he thought.

"Yeah, well you act old! You act like some old wise man! I'm surprised you can still get it on with Ichigo in your old age!" Sprx shut his mouth quickly when he realised he'd gone too far. Ichigo gazed wide-eyed at Sprx in shock, whilst Antauri growled.

"Run" he muttered. Sprx eeped and scrambled to the bedroom, jumped into his bed and hid there.

Antauri turned back to Ichigo, who was now blushing and chewing her lip; he smiled and purred in her ear,

"Looks like Sprx isn't as dense as we thought" he whispered, causing Ichigo to giggle nervously; they were about to go back to their bedroom, when Chiro appeared. They both stared in shock to see Chiro dressed and ready for the day, with a deranged happy smile on his face,

"Chiro... you, uh, look ready. Why are you up so early?" asked Ichigo, floating towards him. Chiro smiled at her in an eager way and started to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet,

"Zoo!" he said, jumping up and down, "zoo zoo zoo zoo zoo zoo zoo!" he repeated, getting louder, until Ichigo backed away and sweat dropped. (This is based on a true story, darn baby sitting!)

"I... take it you heard then?" she asked, watching Chiro nod excitedly, "well, go get everyone else then. And we'll-"

"We're up" came a groggy voice, weighed down with sleep. They turned to see everyone else dragging themselves in and looking rather dishevelled. Antauri blinked then turned back to Chiro,

"Chiro did you..."

"Yep!" he said, butting in, he turned to Ichigo again and starting bouncing towards her, "zoo!" he cried. Ichigo jumped at the sudden shout and flew back over to Antauri,

"Maybe, we should wait until..." she started,

"No" replied Chiro quickly,

"But, we could..."

"No"

"What about if we..."

"No!" he cried, and started muttering to himself and glowering at Ichigo.

"Let's go then" came a frightened reply, causing Chiro to whoop with joy and dragged the monkey team out at lightening speed.

"Aaaaw!" said Ichigo as she cuddled a black, white and tan coloured guinea pig (I gave Twister91's guinea pig a cameo! LOL), petting it gently. "Oh, it's so cute!" Antauri sighed slightly; so far Ichigo had barely acknowledged him since they entered the zoo and she saw the farmyard full of animals. Now, any chance of being romantic had been killed by small, furry, fat rodents, he couldn't believe it!

"How about we go look at something else?" he asked, Ichigo turned back to him and smiled. She placed the guinea pig back in its pen carefully and walked up to him.

"Sure" she said simply, and took his hand, leading him out of the farmyard part and into a large network of paths around cages. Antauri noticed that there were different breeds of monkeys and other primates here; he looked at Ichigo with a confused look on his face.

"Why are we here?" he asked, as the monkeys stopped what they were doing and looked at the pair of robot monkeys on the other side.

"Hey, gorgeous!" yelled one (I really don't know if they can understand other monkeys, but I'm presuming they can) Antauri facevaulted at the monkeys' crude comments towards Ichigo. He looked at her and noticed that she was happily ignoring them,

"Perhaps, we should leave more quickly?" suggested Antauri, nodding his head towards the monkeys that were following on the other side, still making comments and suggestions to Ichigo. Ichigo looked around him at the monkeys, who went nuts and tried to impress her; Ichigo widened her eyes and laughed at them, making Antauri turn to the monkeys and growl at them. For the sake of everyone we'll leave out their response, but let's just say that the last of Antauri's patience seemed to snap at that point.

Chiro was having a blast! He'd seen all kinds of animals and even got some girls' phone numbers, now he was going to see the monkeys. He heard a lot of screeching as he neared and noticed people quickly walking out of the path between the cages. Thinking that Skeleton King might have done something, Chiro sped up and was soon standing in the path, gazing at the sight before him.

There, before him, was Antauri attempting to claw at a monkey on the other side in the cage with Ichigo desperately trying to pull him back. He noticed that Ichigo was trying to convince Antauri to leave them alone, but Antauri seemed beyond convincing. Chiro ran towards them and the monkeys in the cages ran away in fear of the boy, he yanked Antauri off the cage fencing and turned him around to face him.

"What in the name of everything holy are you doing!" he demanded, Ichigo floated up to Antauri's side and looked rather solemn. Antauri, however, was far from that,

"Those arrogant, crude sorry excuses for monkeys were making very disgusting comments about Ichigo and what they'd like to do with her!" he cried, pointing behind him at the monkeys, who were still cowered in fear. Chiro looked up at them, then back at Antauri, and then over to Ichigo,

"This true?" he asked, Ichigo nodded slightly,

"But I wasn't bothered! You should've ignored them, Antauri" she replied, facing Antauri. He humphed indignantly and stuck his nose in the air,

"No one says those kind of things about _my_ girl!" he proclaimed, Ichigo's eyes softened slightly,

"Aw that's sweet" she said shyly, before remembering that she was meant to be angry at him, "but that doesn't excuse the fact that you behaved just as bad as them!"

"I'm nowhere near as primitive and uncouth (I love that word!) As those... those... _creatures_!" he cried, Ichigo flew close so their noses touched,

"Could've fooled me" she growled, before flying off towards the exit.

Chiro watched her leave and placed Antauri on the ground, who looked at the ground and sighed sadly,

"I'm sorry for that, Chiro" he said humbly, looking back up at Chiro, Chiro smiled warmly,

"It's OK" he said, shrugging, "we've all been a bit tense recently, what with all this training and Ichigo getting hit and Skeleton King being so quiet. I guess we're all getting a little snappy and anxious" Antauri nodded slightly, but he looked troubled. They began walking back,

"It felt slightly different though, like something... _primal_ was let out" he confessed, gesturing slightly, Chiro thought about this,

"Maybe you just need to go be 'one with Nature' or something" suggested Chiro, putting his hands behind his head, "y'know, go out and just relax", Antauri looked very thoughtful about this,

"Perhaps you're right, Chiro" he agreed, "after all, despite all our increased intelligence and cybernetics, we _are_ still monkeys. Maybe that side has been suppressed for too long" they stopped and shielded their eyes from the bright sunlight. When they could see again, they realised they were in a large open play area. Otto was waving to them from a nearby picnic table,

"Hey guys!" he called, "c'mon, I've been saving this table for ages!" Antauri and Chiro ran over to him and sat down.

"Where are the others?" asked Antauri, looking around for the rest of their team, Otto thought about it for a few moments,

"Oh yeah! Nova and Sprx went off to get something to eat, Gibson is attempting to have a 'conversation' with those wallabies over there" he pointed and the others turned to watch Gibson try in vain to get the wallabies to understand the quantum theory, they all sweat dropped, "and Ichigo went into the playground"

"Really?" asked Chiro, surprised that a _sixteen year old_ would want to go play in a play area. He looked at Antauri who was staring at the play area with awe and longing; Chiro felt his mouth curve up in a smile,

"Maybe you could go satisfy those 'primal urges' you've been having?" he suggested to Antauri, who looked back at him and smiled before running off to the play area. Otto raised an eyebrow at this and Chiro turned to him,

"Antauri and I discussed this and believe that it would be best for you all to let out these 'primal longings' or something, so you don't end up going nuts" Otto nodded slightly and scooted off the bench, running after Antauri.

Antauri gazed up at the structure; it was a maze of rope ladders, swings, bridges and slides all woven around a very large oak tree. Children of all ages were running all over it like ants, laughing and playing. He felt something in him pull him towards it and soon he was running around, jumping and swinging on the branches. He laughed and landed on a branch high up before leaping off again, this was exhilarating, this was amazing, and, best of all, this was _fun_! He reached the very top of the tree and collapsed, laughing quietly to himself at his own child-like glee,

"Antauri?" questioned a soft voice nearby, he rolled over to face the source of the voice and saw Ichigo climbing over to him. She smiled and laid down next to him, she kissed his nose softly,

"I'm sorry about earlier" she said shyly, looking away, "I really did appreciate that you wouldn't let them say things like that and that you'd protect me and all" she snuggled up close to him,

"I'm sorry also" replied Antauri as he rubbed her back, "I believe that my primal instincts got the better of me" he explained, Ichigo sat up slightly and looked at him,

"Primal instincts?" she repeated for clarification, he nodded and Ichigo seemed to be fighting back a grin, "so you went all Tarzan for me?" she asked, trying not to laugh. (If you don't get it, then you're obviously too sane for this fic) Antauri sat up and looked at her oddly,

"Pardon?" he said in confusion, Ichigo giggled quietly and waved away his question, lying back down and dragging Antauri down with her,

"Nothing" she answered, snuggling in again, "my crazy monkey" she added, laughing. Antauri rolled away from her and leaned over her,

"I'll show you 'crazy monkey'!" he growled, Ichigo giggled and squirmed out from under him. She stood up and jumped down through the branches,

"You'll have to catch me first!" she called back, swinging deftly from branch to branch, Antauri caught on quickly and raced after her.

Meanwhile, in a dark lair up in space, a certain bad guy watched the two monkeys weave through the branches. He felt a smirk form on his bony face and swirled a goblet with maggots in it,

"Soon" he muttered, "soon, they will all learn not to let their guard down. Enjoy yourselves while you can monkeys! For soon, you will never see happiness again!"

WF: (proudly shows off her new Form Captain badge)

Ichigo: Will you _please_ leave that thing alone?

WF: (now shining badge) No.

Ichigo: (sighs) Review please!


	4. A Change of Pace

Disclaimer: (sneezes and accidentally hits Sprx) Oops! Dorry Dbrx...

Thanks to:

Twister91: Ichigo: (hugging Antauri whilst Gibson fixes his tail) It's OK, Antauri, I won't let the mean maniac near you.

WF: If you're so good at everything (floats up to be eye level with Onyx) Wanna play a game of blackjack? (Shuffles cards) hmm?

4Evermonkeyfan: Sprx: Dude! Why does _he_ get all the girls! _I'm _the hot one; I should have dozens of 'em! (Starts crying) It isn't fair!

WF: (whacks Sprx on the head) Oh be quiet! Yeah, I don't mind the relationship with Antauri thing, and the homework monster is officially tackled for now!

Beastfire: Chiro: No way would I do anything that you would do!

Otto: But you did...

Chiro: Lies!

Everyone: (sighs and sweat drops)

WF: (admiring the Ivy picture, which is soon snatched by Sprx) Hey!

Sprx: (running away like crazy) I wanna see if I can use this as a voodoo doll!

WF: (chases him) Come back here!

A Fan of Romance: Chiro: (chanting along with you)

WF: (covers ears) Nova! Please tell them to stop!

Nova: (whacks both unconscious)

WF: Umm... (Sweat drops) I guess that works too.

A/N: I currently have a cold or flu or some other similar disease, which is why I have time to write this instead of being at school (does peace sign), so if it seems slightly... _warped,_ it's due to the fact that my head is currently stuffed up and I get some strange ideas when I'm ill!

**A Change of Pace**

"Hey, Otto! Wait up!" called Nova, climbing up the tree with Sprx following to where Otto was on the bridge, hanging his legs over the side. He smiled at the pair as they sat down beside him,

"Got anything to eat with ya?" he asked, his stomach growling in agreement,

"Sure do" replied Sprx before handing him a hotdog with everything on it. Otto nearly took off Sprx's hand as he began to devour the hotdog ravenously, Nova and Sprx sweat dropped,

"Gee, Otto, you make it seem like we don't feed you!" remarked Nova, backing away from said monkey as specks of food flew at her. They all laughed and sat together, looking out at the vast fields and cages containing all sorts of exotic and farmyard animals, Nova smiled at the serenity of it,

"y'know" she started, leaning against the bars on the side of the bridge, "sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be just an ordinary monkey. No worries, no trying to save people, no Skeleton King to worry about, just... peace" she drifted off and the others looked thoughtful too,

"Yeah..." said Sprx quietly, "and getting it on with all the female monkeys I can during mating season! Hoo cha!" he cried, drooling slightly, before getting smacked up the head by Nova. He looked up at her, grinning a lopsided smile at her,

"How about it, Nova?" he asked, shuffling closer to her, "wanna 'expand the team'?" he grinned his famous perverted grin and Nova pushed him off of her; but she couldn't help smiling slightly. He grinned again and rested his head against the bar,

"Uh... guys? Hate to interrupt your 'family plans', but we've got company!" cried Otto, looking behind them in fear. Nova and Sprx turned, thinking it was Formless again; but, instead, were confronted by a mass of little children.

"Monkeys!" cried the kids in unison, before glomping the trio and tugging and petting and pulling at them,

"Great" muttered Nova, trying to pull away from the tiny tyrants, but was soon piled on by more, "so now what?" she asked from under the pile. Sprx leapt out of reach and quickly pulled Otto and Nova out of the mass too,

"Run!" he cried as they sped off as fast as they could, the children in hot pursuit.

Elsewhere, Gibson seemed to be having similar trouble, although it wasn't kids that were the problem.

"Down!" he shouted, trying to sound stern and in control, the wallabies hopped closer, forming a ring around the blue monkey, Gibson sweat dropped, "please? Umm... go away now, thank you! I... must be leaving!" he tried to run, but found himself trapped. Then, one of the wallabies decided to be 'friendly' with Gibson,

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he cried, running blindly in fear of his innocence being robbed from him, with the mob of overenthusiastic marsupials close behind.

Chiro, who for some reason hadn't noticed anything, sighed boredly as he watched the other kids having fun,

'Man' he thought, 'why did I agree to watch the table for the team? This sucks' but wasn't bored for much longer, when he realised that there was a crowd of little kids coming towards him. He squinted to get a better look and realised that they were chasing something, or rather some_ things_, he sweat dropped as the huge gang of children and three monkeys flew into him, flattening him against the ground.

When the wave of feet had subsided, Chiro sat up, looking dazed,

"Chiro! Move!" someone shouted and Chiro saw Gibson come running up and leap over him, followed by another crowd, only this time it was wallabies that pummelled him.

As he cautiously sat up this time, he held his head in agony,

"Ow..." he said weakly, before fainting.

As the monkeys ran, the two crowds joined and formed one large sea of monkey obsessed beings, and Gibson noticed a small alley

"Quick! Go in there!" he cried, as he and the other monkeys dived for it. As the crowd thundered past, the monkeys breathed a sigh of relief,

"Pretty smart move, Gibson" panted Nova in praise,

"Thank... thank you... Nova" he gasped, lying flat on his back and trying to catch his breath.

Once they'd all recovered, they decided to go back and see if Chiro was alright.

"C'mon, team!" called Otto, the ever happy one, but froze in his tracks when he stepped out of the alley. The others looked around him and saw that the crowd was there and there seemed to be something rather sinister about them,

"Uh guys? Any ideas?" Otto asked, as they were backed up further into the alley by the crowd advancing on them swiftly,

"Looks like we'll have to attack" said Nova, activating her weapons and readying herself to fight her way out. Everyone stared at her in shock,

"Are you mad!" cried Gibson, gesturing to the crowd, "They're little children and animals! Sure, they've been annoying but they're still-"a long, multicoloured fist struck out and punched Gibson into the wall, "defenceless" he finished before fainting.

The rest turned around to see that the once huge group of little children and wallabies had oozed together and formed a single entity,

"Say what!" cried Sprx, staring in disbelief at the creature. It let out a shriek and tendrils shot out from it and snared the monkeys, including the unconscious Gibson. The others struggled against their bonds and were suddenly shocked in return, knocking them all out. And, as the monster admired its handiwork, a very familiar sinister voice came from it,

"Four down, two to go" it said, before creeping away, chuckling evilly.

"Uh!" grunted Ichigo as the Formless blasted her backwards,

"Ichigo!" cried Antauri, running over and grabbing her before she hit the floor. He helped her up and shielded her as more Formless ran at them, weapons out to attack. He looked at Ichigo from the corner of his eye

"Stay here" he whispered, before flying into a frenzy of a battle, taking on the millions of Formless alone. Ichigo watched as more and more Formless seemed to appear and, soon, it was clear that it was too many for Antauri to handle.

She felt tears form in her eyes as she watched helplessly,

'I wish I could help!' she thought desperately as her tears fell. Then she heard Antauri scream in pain as the Formless blasted and scratched at him,

"No..." she whispered, more tears appearing, "No" she said again only slightly louder and now she looked more determined than scared. "No!" she cried, running forwards and leaping in front of the Formless, preventing them giving the final blow to Antauri. Antauri looked up, blearily, and was amazed to see Ichigo standing over him, holding back the Formless' attack.

"Ichigo..." he said weakly, trying to sit up, "Go. I'll take care of them" he croaked. But Ichigo didn't seem to hear him; he looked at her face and saw the concentration as she tried to desperately block their attacks. He fell silent and could feel his heart swell with joy,

'She can't fight... Has never been able to defend herself... yet, she's protecting me!' Antauri was falling in love all over again and this seemed to give him the strength to continue fighting.

But, as he got up, Ichigo finally gave in and the Formless' attacks broke through her defences and caused her to fly back into Antauri.

As they fell down in a crumpled heap, Antauri looked and saw the Formless advance on Ichigo first,

"No..." he whispered hoarsely, desperately trying to move, but his body ached and wouldn't comply. All he could do was watch in horror as the Formless aimed at Ichigo's terrified face; and, as he braced himself, he saw something spark in Ichigo's heart gem on her forehead. He watched her float up and energy seemed to course into her hands, forming a blue ball in one hand and a pink ball in the other. Her eyes glowed too with an eerie white light and she seemed to become totally calm, she raised her arms and took a deep breath,

"Harpy Arrows!" she cried, flinging out powerful spears of energy at the Formless, squashing most, but more came in their places and Ichigo was quickly outnumbered again,

"It's no good" muttered Antauri as he lay on the ground "more just keep on coming"

He watched as Ichigo seemed to change her tactics and flew up high to where the Formless' ship was, energy seemed to swirl around her wings. As she came level with the ship, she arched back slightly

"Siren Sonic Boom!" she cried, pulling forwards and dragging her wings in front of her, causing a massive wave of energy to blast forwards and destroy the ship and take out the remaining Formless too.

As the wave subsided, Ichigo floated down again and landed next to Antauri, she panted slightly as she looked down at him,

"Hey" she whispered, pulling his aching body into her arms and hugging him close.

"That was amazing" he said in awe at what had just occurred, she blushed deeply and looked away from him,

"I did it for you, Antauri. I couldn't bear to see you get hurt anymore" she replied shyly, blushing even more. Antauri's eyes widened

"You... did that... for me?" he repeated, looking shocked, but, when she nodded, his face seemed to soften completely and his eyes even became slightly watery. Before Ichigo could ask, Antauri's lips locked with hers and they kissed deeply, exploring each other's mouths.

When they parted, Antauri gazed into her eyes with uncompromised love and ran a finger over her cheek.

But, it was a short- lived victory as they heard a rustling behind them and, when they turned to see, a blast shot out and hit them both.

"No..." choked Ichigo, watching Antauri faint next to her before the darkness took her as well.

A short time later, Ichigo awoke in a dark dungeon that smelt damp and felt cold with evil. She looked around and saw that there were others there too and, as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she felt her blood turn cold,

"Holy monkey-doodle!" she cried in shock.

Wheeeeeee! (Coughs and nearly dies) A cliffy, finally!

WF's mum: Get back to bed!

WF: AAAH! (Runs like a mad girl back to her room)

Ichigo: R n R please!


	5. Life As the Other Half

Disclaimer: Hi hi puffy amiyumi show! Hi hi puffy amiyumi show! Hi hi puffy amiyumi show! Hi hi puffy amiyumi show! YAY! (Cheers and jumps around like a nut)

Thanks to:

Beastfire: Sprx: Wanna bet, Ivy? (Dangles picture above a pot of tea)

WF: (anime vein appears) If you _do _do that, then I'll set Fluffy on you (points at a ginger and whitecat which is savagely tearing up a toy monkey that just happens to be red)

Sprx: (sweat drops) Uh he he (gives WF the picture) here ya go! (Runs)

Anonymous But Interested: Phew! For a minute there I thought you'd lost interest! (Does peace sign) thanks though!

A Fan of Romance: Ichigo: (watches Nova and Sprx fight then shuffles closer to Antauri and cuddles him) Maybe _we_ could 'expand the team' instead?

Antauri: (blushes like crazy and even gets a nosebleed) Umm... don't you think we're a bit young to think like that? I mean, maybe we should wait until- (gets cut off by Ichigo pouncing on him) never mind!

Nova: (stops arguing and covers her eyes) Get a room!

Sprx: (drooling and blushing) Or Ichigo can stay right there! (Gets smacked up the head by Nova and Antauri)

Antauri and Ichigo: (walk out of the room)

4Evermonkeyfan: Sprx: (grins like a mad monkey) I can't wait! (wrings hands)

Nova: (looks a _little_ upset) well... I feel sorry for them! Whoever they are! (Walks out of room)

WF: (sighs) At this rate, no one's gonna be in the story! And I'm glad you think it was romantic! I wasn't too sure if it actually sounded sane! And I've read your story and reviewed it, although it was by e-mail not review thingy. (pouts) Stupid computer (kicks it)

SparxGirl: Ichigo: (appears looking slightly dishevelled) darn right I can! (Runs out again)

**Life as the Other Half**

"Holy monkey- doodle!" Ichigo cried, staring at the far wall, where someone was chained up. She blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but, when she looked again, she had seen right. Before her, was a tall, monkey-like humanoid cybourg (that's a mouthful!) with bright red fur and short hair on its head, and white fur covering its chest, it had robot arms and the end of its long, red tail was metal and they were silver and its muzzle and feet was white. (I can draw a picture if you're confused by the descriptions) She noticed that it was male and promptly averted her eyes, deciding to take in the rest of her surroundings.

She saw that it was a similar laboratory to where she had been kept last time, when Mandarin... she froze in her musings and looked down at herself. To her utter shock, she seemed to be in a similar state as the red monkey person, she was a monkey humanoid too! Albeit, very much shorter than her companion but her hair was as long as it was when she was human, though it was blue now, and her arms and end of her tail were also metal but pink; behind her, her wings were pressed against the wall, and her chest was covered with pink fur, her legs were covered with blue and everything else was white. And she too was, unfortunately, unclothed,

"Wait, if I'm like this then that red monkey guy must be..." she faded off and looked up in fear as the guy began to stir. She shifted as much as possible, but as she was chained up against a wall, so there wasn't much freedom to move.

'Gotta think of something, how can I...'

"Hey, gorgeous alien babe" purred the red monkey guy, when he opened his eyes and saw Ichigo in her current situation, Ichigo blushed full force,

"Sprx!" she screamed, outraged and feeling very... well... naked. The monkey's eyes widened in shock and he nearly jumped through the wall behind him,

"Holy Shugazoom! Ichigo? Is that _you_?" he cried, blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Ichigo sighed and nodded,

"Darn..." said Sprx, looking pretty awestruck, "you're _hot_!" A growl was heard nearby and they both turned to see Antauri, who was also transformed, glaring venomously at Sprx,

"When we get free, you'll regret saying that!" he hissed, before turning to Ichigo and his face softened

"Are you alright, Ichigo?" he asked, his voice now filled with concern,

"Apart from the fact that I'm a monkey human hybrid, have nothing covering me and we're all prisoners of Skeleton King? Fine" she answered lightly, trying to lift the dark atmosphere of the cell and their predicament. Antauri smiled slightly, glad to see Ichigo was in high spirits, and reached his tail over to her and wrapped it around hers. Ichigo watched Antauri do this and looked up at him, happily,

"So what are we going to do?" she asked, leaning the side of her face against the wall behind her and trying to make herself moderately comfortable. Antauri averted his eyes and felt his cheeks heat up slightly, before he shook his head and looked back at her,

"All we can do is wait for the others to wake up" he replied, shrugging slightly, but they didn't have to wait long because they soon heard a squeak followed by a slap,

"Ow!" shouted a voice in the corner that sounded like Gibson, "What was that for?" he asked,

"Sorry, Gibson" replied a sheepish sounding Nova, "I was aiming for that perverted freak, Sprx"

Ichigo and Antauri could _feel_ the big smug grin on Sprx's face,

"Heh, c'mon Gorgeous! Y'know you want to get your hands on me and..." at this point, he broke off and gestured but the others could tell what he meant. Nova was heard banging against the wall,

"You low- life, vulgar, piece of..." she started,

"C'mon, you know you love me!" cut in Sprx's smarmy voice, everyone heard Nova scream in frustration.

Ichigo turned slightly so she could see Sprx sitting and not attempting at all to keep his modesty with Nova chained on the wall to her left looking psychotically murderous. Gibson was chained next to her and looked pretty scared as he kept trying to nudge himself further away from the rabid looking monkey girl, and Otto was chained up on the same wall as Sprx but was still unconscious and snoring slightly.

"Maybe we should wake up Otto?" suggested Ichigo, cutting short Nova's hissy fit. Everyone turned and looked at Otto,

"Forget it!" cried Sprx; he poked Otto with his tail, "that guy sleeps like a rock!" as he poked Otto in the head, Otto stirred slightly. Everyone looked at Sprx flatly, who just sweat dropped,

"Heh heh, hey! First time for everything!" Sprx cried defensively, as Otto sat up and stared around at everyone,

"Huh? What's going on?" he asked sleepily, Gibson filled him in on their current problem whilst the others tried to think of what to do next.

"Let's just bust out of here!" cried Nova, attempting to activate her weapons. Which, surprisingly, didn't work; when she gave up trying, they heard a sinister sounding laugh from above them. They looked up and an orange, mutated robot monkey jumped down and landed in the middle of their cell. He looked around, proudly at what was obviously his handiwork,

"I see that my experiments were successful!" he crowed, puffing up slightly, he walked around and looked at each of them with a critical eye. He 'hmm'ed' and muttered under his breath, whilst the monkey team glared at him.

Finally, he stopped and walked over to Ichigo. He knelt down and held her face in his hand,

"LET GO OF HER!" bellowed Antauri furiously as he kicked about wildly. Surprised by the sudden outburst, Mandarin actually complied and stared at him in shock, before composing himself again and smirking at Antauri,

"Why, my dear brother?" he asked, sounding much like a Cheshire Cat, taking Ichigo's face in his hand again, Antauri growled and pulled against the chains again. Mandarin tutted and held Ichigo's face closer,

"Such a temper, you have! And so sudden! Why, my dear brother is it so important that I don't touch _this_ monkey, hmm? Why is she so special?" he asked in a smug sort of voice as he ran his hands over her face, Ichigo twisted to try and pull out of his grip but he recaptured her face again each time.

"Leave... me... alone!" she struggled as Mandarin leaned in to her and sighed,

"Such a beautiful specimen..." he murmured, looking up and down her, "a perfect mate!" everyone choked and stared bug eyed at the large orange monkey.

"You're kidding?" cried Nova, looking horrified,

"She's just a child!" reasoned Gibson,

"You're sick, man!" shouted Otto, who was now wide awake at that comment, and turning a little greener,

"That's just _wrong_!" wailed Sprx, scrunching up his nose in disgust and looking away,

"If you even _touch_ her" threatened Antauri in a low voice that was filled with anger,

"I'll tear you apart!"

Ichigo said nothing, but she sat there looking utterly terrified and was shaking all over, Mandarin looked down at her with the same look that one would give a trophy or prize, he looked over at the others briefly and turned back to her,

"You have many high opinions" he muttered to them as he gazed into Ichigo's large, fearful eyes, "but, fortunately, these opinions are unimportant!"

"Mandarin..." said Antauri in his reasoning voice, "don't do this. You know you will regret it in the end, just leave her be!"

Mandarin stood up and one could hear him chuckling bitterly,

"Regret this? Oh no, Antauri, I don't believe I will. I will just be finishing what I planned for this vixen the whole time, before _you_ stole her away" he glared angrily at Antauri; he grabbed Antauri's neck and squeezed it slightly. Antauri coughed and gasped for breath,

"You've stolen everything from me before, Antauri, you will not steal this too!" he whispered darkly, before releasing him and turning back to Ichigo.

"Forgive the interruption, my dear" he said curtly, and snapped his fingers. At once, the chains on Ichigo's wrists and ankles came off the wall and levitated her above the ground, making her following Mandarin as he walked out of the cell.

Ichigo pulled back, trying to pull them away, trying not to follow her captor. She was electrocuted in return for her efforts and was forced to give up; she looked back at Antauri with misery and sadness and felt tears cascade down her face when she saw that Antauri looked as miserable as she did.

"I love you" she whispered to him, before the door slammed shut in her face.

Ichigo let the tears fall freely and Mandarin turned to look at her,

"Don't be upset, my dear" he cooed in an attempt to comfort her, it didn't work, "you are simply fulfilling your destiny"

"As what?" she grumbled bitterly, "As your bed slave? As the girl who'll churn out thousands of offspring for you? I don't think so" Mandarin chuckled quietly and held her close,

"As my wife, of course! Together, we shall rule the universe with an iron fist! Nothing will get in our way!"

"_Your_ way!" she corrected, trying to squirm out of his grip, "_I_ don't want anything to do with you!" Mandarin smiled in a sinister way and held her chin up,

"Oh, it's too late for that, my dear. Much too late" he replied, before pulling her into a forceful kiss. Ichigo lashed out the best she could and whined against his mouth, but all that was in vain and the only thought that rang through her head was 'too late...much too late'

(Geez! That was dark wasn't it? So here's some humour!)

"You little stinky hairballs are dead!" yelled Chiro, chasing the monkeys at the zoo around the cages, the monkeys leapt out of his way and laughed at him as they dangled his wallet and keys in front of his face. He made a swipe for them and the monkeys pulled the items away at the last moment, he tried again much to the same end and again. Eventually, he screamed in frustration and, in desperation, began climbing the wire, the monkeys laughed at his awkward climbing and causally laid around, waiting for him to be nearer.

"Hah, almost there!" he said, before losing his balance and falling of the fence, right in the water trough. The monkeys went crazy, laughing, screeching and pointing at the fallen hero. Chiro felt the water around him steam as he got angrier and angrier until...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Chiro roared as he unleashed the Power Primate and the large, green gorilla stared down at the monkeys, who freaked out and ran as fast as they could, dropping the wallet and keys.

"Yes!" shouted Chiro, reverting to normal and picking up his stuff, "now to get out of here!" He paused and looked around; he spotted the door and went over to it.

But, unfortunately, the door had locked behind him and he was now trapped in with a bunch of monkeys until someone got him out... Or he would've been, had he been a normal kid,

"Thunder Punch!" he cried as he punched in the wire door and calmly walked out the hole. The monkeys whooped and ran for freedom, causing Chiro to sweat drop and realise what he'd done.

"I guess I better go get them" he said sheepishly before stepping on something, "huh?" he picked it up "Ichigo's necklace!" and he spotted the Formless goo close by, Chiro narrowed his eyes in contempt, he looked back at the necklace and held it tightly, "Skeleton King and Mandarin" he growled, before taking off towards the Super Robot.

Ichigo: EEEEEEWW! You made me kiss Mandarin! (Runs off to disinfect her mouth)

WF: (sweat drops) Yeah... (Notices Antauri) You OK?

Antauri: (turns to her) ...**you're dead!** (Chases WF whilst threatening her)

Nova: (sighs) Review please! (Mumbles) Now to find some clothes...


	6. What Do We Do Next?

Disclaimer: (mouthful) Cookies! (Stuffs in more of her home made cookies) Cookies cookies cookies!

Ichigo: Don't you mean biscuits?

WF: (swallows) I would if I weren't doing a Frankie, from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, imitation!

Ichigo: (sweat drops) Riiiight...

Thanks to:

4Evermonkeyfan: Ichigo: (curiously looks at book) hmm... (Realises people are watching her) oh. Thanks for the offer, but this is personal now!

Antauri: (has razor claws out ready) Got that right!

Ichigo: You could always beat the crud out of Mandarin in your story, though. I know we'd enjoy seeing that!

Beastfire: Nova: (watches Sprx rub on ointment and glares at Ivy) Hey, I wanted to _use_ those someday! You ever think of that? Huh? Ever think that maybe someday; _I_ might wanna have kids with _him_? (Covers mouth and looks around)

Everyone: (shocked)...

Ichigo: (squeals) Aaaaw how cute! Nova wants to have babies!

Sprx: (having a massive heart attack from the shock) Holy crud... Nova... babies... (Passes out)

Anonymous But Interested: WF: (sweat drops as Mandarin attempts to hide behind her) Get off me, you mahoosive freak! (Kicks Mandarin who runs away)

Monkey team: (chases the orange freak accident)

WF: (watches as they catch Mandarin) I think you may be right...

SparxGirl: Sprx: (watches Ichigo and Nova go past, still searching for clothes, and blushes) Hehehehehehehe... that's what _you_ think!

WF: (smacks Sprx up the head) I hope the rest of you are being more controlled (turns to see the other monkeys ogling at the two females) oh brother! (Slaps forehead)

Twister91: WF: (blushes) Aaaaw thanks! Wanna biscuit? (Points at tray that has been Otto- proofed)

**What do we do next?**

The others watched pityingly as their second in command screamed and lashed out wildly in frustration, they looked at each other and tried to think of what to say. Finally, Gibson chose to break the uncomfortable silence,

"We have to think of a way out" he said, voicing what they all thought, Sprx snorted,

"Wow, it took you that long to think of that?" he said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Gibson huffed indignantly and smacked Sprx with his tail,

"Ow! Hey!" cried Sprx, before retaliating. Pretty soon, the two monkeys were whacking each other as hard as possible with their tails and, with each smack, there was a response of cusses. Nova sighed, rolling her eyes, and noticed that Otto was doing something,

"Whatcha doing, Otto?" she asked, leaning over to try and see better, he looked up at her and smiled. He didn't reply, instead; he twirled his tail near the locks on the chains some more and they fell off. Everyone became silent and stared at the green monkey, who stood up proudly,

"Hey, guys! Guess what? I know how to get us all free!" he announced happily, leaping up and down, Nova blushed and covered her eyes,

"That's great, Otto! But, do you think you could quit jumping around now? At least until we find some clothes!" she begged, Otto stopped and looked down and realised that he was in dire need of clothing. Satisfied with Otto's embarrassed squeak and seeing him quickly cover himself, Nova looked up again.

"Hey, Otto!" called Sprx, behind him, "how 'bout freeing the rest of us?" he asked, light-heartedly. Otto turned to him and smiled,

"Sure thing!" he replied, before using a long, thin thing that looked quite like a wish bone of some sort to pick the lock, Sprx decided not to ask where Otto had found it.

Soon, everyone was free again and they had to decide what should be their next move,

"We need to find Ichigo" said Antauri with a very stony look on his face, "before that disgusting creature, Mandarin, can do anything to her!" Nova looked thoughtful,

"Yeah, but we won't be able to fight! Our weapons won't work!" she reasoned.

Gibson looked thoughtful,

"He must have removed the capability to activate our weapons during this transformation process" he concluded, gesturing to himself "maybe, by using some sort of mecha neural control"

"So, let's take it off and go bash Mandarin's ugly skull in!" shouted Nova, not enjoying the fact that she had no idea what Gibson had just said. Gibson sighed exasperatedly and began to explain how the device would be very difficult to remove and they would need all sorts of high tech equipment to do it safely. Whilst Gibson droned on, Sprx yawned and stretched, his hands brushing over something attached to the nape of his neck. Curious, he fingered it then pulled it off and, suddenly, he felt as though a block in his mind had been removed. He decided to try out his weapons to see if they would work now and, to his and everyone's surprise, out came his magnets. Gibson looked flabbergasted,

"How- how did you do that?" he asked, bewildered that someone like _Sprx_ could manage what he'd called impossible, Sprx just shrugged and showed them the little round device that had been on the nape of his neck,

"I just pulled this off and I felt like some block in my mind had gone" he explained as Otto took the little dome- shaped device and looked at it.

Antauri reached his arm behind his head and felt that he too, had a little dome on his neck; he pulled it off and felt the same mental block disappear. He tested his weapons and as soon as he tried, out came his razor claws. The others quickly followed suit, and soon, everyone had their weapons out and were ready to kick some deranged lunatic butt.

And, as the monkey team moved out inside the Citadel of Bone, Chiro, in the Super Robot, was attempting to get close enough to get into the ship.

"Aah!" he cried as lasers fired out of the ship's sides and hit him full on. He looked at the Robot's stats and saw that the Robot was going critical; and he lost control of the Robot. He watched as the Robot flew in close to the ship's side

'Now or never!' he decided as he ejected from the Robot and landed on the ship's surface. He looked up and blasted a couple of cannons that were about to fire at him, he looked back and watched the Super Robot drift away, slowly.

"No turning back now" he muttered, "Chiro Spear-o!" he cried, blasting a hole in the ship and jumping through. He landed in a dimly lit corridor and quickly made his way along. He dodged all the Formless and Spider bots and ran along until he reached the cell that they'd been in. He entered it, cautiously, and looked around. He felt around on the floor and picked up some hair, _green _hair. And there was blue hair nearby too, and Chiro could think of only two creatures that would match this description,

"Otto and Gibson" he murmured and ran out of the cell and further along the corridor.

"Stop squirming!" ordered Mandarin as he struggled with Ichigo, who was lashing out and smacking him. He had a bloody lip from where Ichigo had bit him when he kissed her, and many bruises and scratches from her reaction to him telling her that he'd decided to go ahead with his plans right now.

"Let go of me! I won't let you do this! I only want Antauri as a partner! Not you, you deranged, psychotic, disgusting, mutated" her ranting was cut short when Mandarin smacked her in the head hard, she looked up in shock and saw that he was glaring at her. He pinned her shoulders down and brought his face very close to hers,

"You are mine, understand? You were created for the sole purpose of being with me, not that fleabag! You are _mine_!" he shrieked out the last word and Ichigo held her head in pain, his words rang in her ears, making her head hurt worse.

"Now, you will do as I wish!" he ordered menacingly, trying to push her down onto the bed behind her. She felt dizzy from the pain in her head and didn't move; Mandarin took this as defiance and began smacking her around the head repeatedly. Finally, Ichigo fell with a cry and Mandarin caught her hair to stop her falling, he pulled her back up to her feet and she wailed in pain,

"Stop! Please, you're hurting me!" she cried with tears running down her cheeks. Mandarin ignored her pleas and threw her onto the hard stone floor, Ichigo attempted to get up again and was smacked back down again by Mandarin's tail, and she lay on the floor and sobbed quietly. She could feel Mandarin's scrutinising stare on her back and then heard him leaving. As the door shut, Ichigo looked up and tried to stand again, however; her head hurt from being hit so many times and she felt dizzy. She closed her eyes and tried to relax enough to think clearly.

She didn't get long though, because she felt her hair being pulled and she was forced to sit up again, she reluctantly looked up to see Mandarin smirking at her,

"I have found the solution to your little rebelling ways" he crowed, showing her some ropes and chains in his hand. Ichigo paled a lot, she'd heard of people who enjoyed being tied up for this sort of thing, but she hadn't liked the thought of it, much less actually _doing_ it. Although, it seemed she wasn't being given a choice as Mandarin hit her in the back of the head hard enough to make her lose her balance and fall forwards, he caught her and began tying her up, she was too weak and dizzy to really stop him.

When Ichigo could think clearly again, she realised that her arms had been chained to the headrest and her legs chained to the bedposts at the end. She struggled and tried to activate her newly acquired powers but it seemed that she couldn't make them work, she watched in horror as Mandarin neared her slowly, savouring her fear and what he was planning next. She pulled against the chains as hard as she could and tried to slip her wrists and ankles out of the bonds that held her, but, when she felt Mandarin's hand on her stomach she froze and her body wouldn't respond. She pulled out of his reach and stared up at him with scared, pleading eyes. He noticed this and grinned like a madman at her. He leaned in to her and Ichigo felt his breath on her face,

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll soon get used to it" he whispered, these words had a much more devastating effect than any of the physical blows and Ichigo broke down. She sobbed loudly and thought of all the new plans and dreams she'd wanted to share with Antauri, how she'd wanted to show him more of her interests, go out on dates with him to new and exciting places, learn of some of his interests and try to do them too, and maybe... start a family with him.

"Antauri..." she whispered through her sobs, "I wish you were here"

"Let's try this room!" yelled Sprx, pointing at a darkened oak door. Nova looked at him quizzically,

"Why this one?" she asked as the others joined them, Sprx shrugged,

"I dunno, it just screams 'evil psycho monkey's lair'" he explained, Antauri came forward and focused on the door, he reopened his eyes after a few moments,

"I think you're right, Sprx" he said, as he ripped through the door with his claws.

Ichigo tried to block out any feelings, she didn't want to accept what Mandarin was about to do to her and she certainly didn't want to enjoy it. However, instead of the feeling she had been dreading; she felt the rush of air and heard a loud clanging of wood collapsing. She opened her eyes and, prayed that she wasn't dreaming,

"Antauri!" she cried happily, feeling tears of happiness running down her face. There, standing in the doorway, was Antauri, glaring murderously at Mandarin, who was leaning over Ichigo lewdly. Mandarin shrieked angrily and leapt off the bed, facing Antauri, the others quickly rushed into the room too.

"Antauri" growled Mandarin, his tail whipping around him furiously, the only sign of how he was feeling inside as his face was so placid. Nova took this time to run up to Ichigo and untie her.

"Thanks" sighed Ichigo in relief as she sat up and rubbed her wrists and ankles, Nova smiled and put a hand of her shoulder,

"Hey, we can't let ol' gruesome here have his way with you! Besides, "she leaned in and whispered, "I think Antauri would have a massive fit if he wasn't the first one to... _y'know what_ with ya!" the girls giggled slightly and turned back to see Antauri and Mandarin sizing each other up, with their weapons ready.

"This time you have gone too far, Mandarin!" growled Antauri, preparing to strike Mandarin in the head, Mandarin jumped at Antauri and lashed out his tail,

"No, it is you who has overstepped the mark, now I will make sure you never meddle in my affairs again!" he shrieked, grabbing Antauri's wrist and slamming him into the wall. Antauri flipped Mandarin over him into the wall above him and used his claws to scratch furiously at Mandarin, causing many gashes and cuts to appear. Mandarin kicked out and knocked Antauri in the head, dazing him slightly. Mandarin saw his chance and tackled Antauri, punching him in the face and causing his nose to bleed. Antauri used his telekinesis to throw Mandarin off and into the wall over the bed.

Ichigo watched Mandarin fall onto the bed with wall debris on him and Antauri telekinetically lifted out a massive section of the wall, revealing an endless drop, and flattened Mandarin with it. The bed broke under the colossal weight and everyone sitting on the bed quickly got off.

They watched the pile of rubble for many moments, just waiting for Mandarin to suddenly jump out; when they had waited a satisfactory length of time, Ichigo ran up and hugged Antauri. She kissed him deeply and wrapped her tail around his waist, pulling him closer. Antauri returned her affections and nuzzled her face as well, he held her close and stroked her hair,

"My angel, I'll never leave you again" he whispered, looking deep into her eyes. Sprx silently made gagging motions behind them but Nova quickly shut him up with a swift kick to the tail. Ichigo gazed up into Antauri's eyes and reached up to kiss him again, but she felt someone grab her leg and pull her away. She screamed in alarm and felt herself being pulled upside down, she looked and saw a familiar pair of orange legs and heard a chilling laugh before she hit her head on the floor and was knocked out.

"You fools thought that I could be defeated so easily? You truly are lost without me!" he shrieked madly, Antauri growled and tackled him. He pushed a little too far and caused them to fall out of the gaping hole in the wall; he grabbed onto the wall desperately and felt Mandarin hold onto his leg. He glared down at Mandarin, who grinned up and held Ichigo up for him to see,

"If you kick me off, she will fall and die too!" he said, shrieking laughter following. Antauri gazed down at Ichigo, who was still upside down and being swung about. He balled his fist in frustration and slowly, pulled all three of them back up again.

"Antauri!" called the others from high above, gazing down at the trio in desperation and anxiety, Antauri hung his head and complied,

"I have no choice..." he murmured, before resuming his climb,

"Yes" hissed Mandarin, delighted, "that's it, Antauri. Pull us up quickly" his delighted expression quickly changed to shock though, when he saw Antauri glare down at him; before he kicked Mandarin hard in the head, causing him to let go and fall backwards. Mandarin screamed as he fell into the darkness and was gone. Antauri reached out, hanging on by his tail, and held out his arms to catch Ichigo's unconscious form. But, to his horror, his fingers just brushed against Ichigo's fur and he tried reaching out with his telekinesis, but his body was too drained from the fight to muster enough energy to catch and hold her, he felt time slow down as Ichigo fell into the dark abyss to certain doom.

It felt like ages before Antauri managed to force himself back up to face the others, his face was clouded by sadness and he didn't attempt to hide it. The others could only watch as he stared out into the darkness that had swallowed both their enemy and their friend, tears dropped down into the darkness as well. The Monkey Team stood by the hole and none tried to stop the tears which flowed in torrents down their faces, Nova buried her face into Sprx's chest and he held her close as she sobbed loudly, they were so grieved that none heard Chiro enter the room. He looked at the transformed Monkey Team and wasn't sure whether he should believe it them. He licked his dry lips and readied himself

"Monkey Team?" he asked, the Team turned to look at him and some brightness returned to their faces, but it was soon taken by grief again. He looked confused and came up to them,

"Hey, what's wrong? What's happened?" he asked, and no one seemed eager to tell him. Nova looked up from Sprx's chest and gave him a pitying look, she put a hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath,

"Chiro..." she started shakily, "its Ichigo... she's gone" Chiro blinked uncomprehending and raised an eyebrow,

"_Gone_?" he asked, looking at her sceptically, Nova nodded before breaking down again and being comforted by Sprx. Sprx decided it was his turn, he gulped and looked down at Chiro,

"She's... she's dead, Chiro. She... she fell...down the cliff" he explained, feeling tears form in his eyes again. The others seemed to break down again, hearing what they had tried not to believe and no one had quite expected Chiro's reaction; he laughed! Loud and long, like he'd heard the greatest joke ever. The others stared at him in shock at how disrespectful he was being,

"Chiro... how can you laugh at this?" asked Nova in shock and disgust,

"Poor kid's so broken up, he's losing his mind" said Otto, who sniffed and wiped his nose on his arm, Chiro raised an eyebrow at them and laughed happily again.

"You goobers, Ichigo isn't gone" he said brightly, however the others, especially Antauri, were far from believing this,

"Yes, she is, Chiro. I saw her fall, I was the one who caused her to be dropped, and I tried to catch her and I _missed_!" Antauri turned and Chiro saw how bloodshot his eyes were, he also noticed how badly he was shaking too. Antauri's sadness seemed to change to anger and he advanced on Chiro and glared into his face,

"How can you be so calm and happy? Ichigo is gone! Dead. And it's all _my_ fault; I was foolish enough to believe getting rid of Mandarin was more important than her life. I didn't deserve to have someone like her; I didn't value her life enough to think it was more important than my pride. And now..." he started to sob and harshly wiped away the tears, "now she's gone! I'll... I'll never see her again!" And with this, he started to cry loudly. He collapsed on the floor and let his tears run on the ground, Chiro looked down at him, pityingly, and sighed; he grabbed Antauri and dragged him over to the hole again.

"Antauri, look" he ordered, pointing into the hole, Antauri continued to cry and beyond doing anything that anyone asked at that moment. Chiro growled in frustration and pulled Antauri's face so he was looking into the hole. "Now listen" he ordered quietly, and everyone remained silent.

Sure enough, they heard a noise, it sounded like... singing. Someone was singing and it was getting closer, they all gazed in amazement down into the hole and saw a small white dot getting closer and closer. Antauri leaned out so far that Chiro had to grab his waist and hold him back so he didn't fall in.

Soon, the white form became clearer and everyone stared in shock as Ichigo happily flew up to them and she stopped singing the 'Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi' theme song. She hovered in front of them and looked politely confused by their shock,

"What's wrong? Is my singing that bad?" she asked innocently, tilting her head to the side slightly. This seemed enough to make them all start crying again, but now it was tears of happiness and they all surged forwards en masse and hugged her.

After Ichigo had escaped the grip of her over emotional friends, she was confronted by Antauri, who looked like he'd just been given the greatest gift in the world; Ichigo beamed at him and gave him a hug. She felt Antauri wrap his arms tightly around her waist and he nuzzled his face into her chest,

"I love you" said a muffled voice that sounded a little teary too. Ichigo pulled Antauri's face up and smiled down at him, she giggled and kissed his nose softly,

"I love you too, my koi" she whispered and was about to launch into full on make out session when she heard gagging noises behind her. She turned to see Chiro, Sprx and Otto all pretending to be sick at the mushy fluffy moment in front of them. Antauri appeared behind her and glared darkly at them, causing them to stop and grin sheepishly at him. Antauri looked satisfied and lifted Ichigo off the ground and into his arms, which was pretty easy considering he was now nearly 6 foot tall whilst Ichigo was barely over 4 foot,

"Let's go home" he said, holding Ichigo close in his arms and walking out of the mangled bedroom. The others followed and they were soon on their way back to Shugazoom City,

"But" asked Gibson, still perplexed by something, "how did you know that Ichigo was alright, Chiro? We all saw her fall into that terrible abyss, yet you seemed certain that she would return to us, why?" Chiro smiled, knowingly,

"It was easy, Gibson. Hey, Ichigo, do _you_ want to tell him?" he asked, looking at the screen that had Antauri and Ichigo on it. Ichigo smiled and giggled,

"You mean he hasn't figured it out yet?" she was greeted by confused faces; she sighed in mock exasperation and pointed to her back.

"Oh?" said Gibson, and then he caught on, "Oh! Well, of course, I knew it all along! I mean, what simpleton couldn't figure _that out_?" he asked, trying to appear all knowing. And the rest of the journey was spent with Sprx and Gibson arguing and it wasn't until they were nearly home, that Otto pointed out a problem to them,

"Guys? How we gonna get changed back?" he asked and was greeted by stunned silence.

Ichigo: Yay! Antauri saved me! (Leaps into Antauri's arms and kisses him happily)

Antauri: (blushes) Aaaaw it was my honour to do it!

Nova: (pouts and punches Sprx) How come you never save _me_ from any of our enemies?

Sprx: What? I've saved you _plenty_ of times!

Nova: Yeah, right (turns away)

Sprx: (anime vein pops up and he jumps on Nova)

Dust cloud appears

WF: (sweat drops) Umm... Review please (runs to avoid being caught in dust cloud)


End file.
